The Solstice Stones

The Standing Stones had been present longer than living memory or oral history.

The old tales spoke of wishes granted or powers given to those who hiked up to the stone circle on the summer solstice and performed the proper ritual. Precisely what that ritual was, had been lost to time.

For much of the year, the circle looked like nothing more that old stones, their original purpose lost to time.

But twice a year, on the Summer and Winter solstice, when the sun hit the stones at just the right moment, there was a sense of something… magical about the place. A feeling of an Ancient power, lost to time... or perhaps just sleeping, waiting for the right person to awaken them.

Eva hadn’t meant to go up to the Standing Stones during the Summer Solstice, the first time it happened. In truth, the fact that it was the solstice had slipped her mind entirely. She hasn’t been thinking of anything but escaping the Greely Gang.

The local police insisted that the Greely siblings weren’t a gang, mostly because their great-aunt owned the cafe next to the station, where the boys in blue ate and drank for free. The rest of the town thought that the trail of destruction, injuries and bullying that followed wherever the Greely children went, indicated otherwise. But, barring a miracle, nothing could be done.

Crouching in the stone circle, hoping not to be found, didn't save Eva last year, but there the Greely Gang didn't beat her up as badly as usual, and there was a feeling that they would not have been able to touch her at all, if she had only asked in the right way.

If a miracle was needed, then so be it. She spent the next twelve months planning.

Eva was the Greely Gang’s favorite prey. She had no siblings to help fight them off, and her aunt rarely left the house. Eva, had to, for school and errands, and that made her vulnerable.

Convincing the other children to join her hadn’t been easy - no-one wanted to draw the Greely Gang's attention to themselves - but in the end they agreed. The rest of the town's children were as fed up as she was. Parents, teachers and other authority figures had failed them.

Perhaps it was time to appeal to another sort of power..,

That led Eva to the current moment, at mid-day on the longest day of the year, crouching behind the center stone, desperately wishing for someone or something to save her. The rest of the town’s children were pressed against the peripheral stones, praying just as hard as Eva was. The details on the ritual had been sparse, no matter how hard they searched or who they questioned, but re-creating the solstice ritual was the only thing they hadn't tried, so here they were.

Eva’s breath came in ragged gasps, trying to steady her heart rate. She had cut her hand, carefully avoiding any major veins or nerves, and blood dripped onto the stone, like the pagan sacrifices of ages past. Outside the circle, the Greely Gang circled, like cats playing with a mouse while they decided whether they were hungry, or in the mood to kill it for fun.

Eva just wanted to live her life, to be safe! She wanted the Greely Gang gone! If the tales of Solstice wishes were true, well then, here she was, wishing! Whatever the cost for that power was, she would pay it!

Above them, the overcast sky cleared, just for a moment, and the sun pierced through, high at its zenith, the mid-point of the longest day of the year.

The stone beneath her hand blazed with light, and warmth filled her, like sinking into a hot bath after coming in from the rain.

In the back of her mind, a voice whispered, ‘come back at the Winter Solstice, and tell us what you accomplished, my chosen…’

For a moment, she thought the light formed a shining golden figure, hand outstretched in benediction.

Then it was gone, and Eva rose to her feet, powerful and confident, fed up with running. Around her, the other children were standing, eyes glowing faintly.

The Greely Gang’s time had come to an end, but theirs was just beginning.

Six months later, Eva and the town's children returned to the Solstice Stones, on the shortest day of the year, ready to face what came next.

The golden figure from the Summer Solstice was there, along with another, who sparkled like frost, or ice crystals, in the brief time before they melted in the heat of the morning.

Even immediately knelt, as did her friends, and the figures smiled. "Rise, and give us your accounting."

Eva stood, nervously. She wished that she were not the one needing to do the talking, but the Midsummer Ritual had been her idea, and One had to lead in both good times and bad, not just when One felt like it. "The Greely Gang are in a correctional facility, and the police have been doing their jobs according to the law. I wish they had not needed to be threatened into doing so, but it is working."

The Greely Gang, much like all bullies, had caved quickly once they worked out that they were no longer the power in the neighborhood, and that the new power was perfectly willing to give as good as they got. Mitchell, now Eva's second, had put it clearly. "Whatever harm you do, we'll return three-fold, but zero times three is still zero. Make amends to those you hurt, resist doing harm, and we won't have a problem."

The police had been harder, and Eva had been required to repeat far more times than she thought necessary, that they didn't want special treatment, they just wanted the law to be enforced fairly. It was, now, but they kept a close eye on things anyway.

The sparkling figure nodded, as if satisfied. "I am satisfied. You may pledge to me, as well, and keep your powers until the Summer Solstice, or if you would rather rest in the Winter's Dark, I can take them from you."

Eva did want to rest, but she wasn't sure if a few short months was enough to make the lesson stick, or if the Greely Gang and the Police would revert to old bad habits, if they thought it was safe to do so. A quick glance around showed that the other children shared similar thoughts. "We would rather rest, but we do not know if it is fully safe to do so."

The sparkling figure exchanged looks with the shining one. "There is another ritual, that will allow you to rest, but summon our vengeance upon the guilty, if they mis-step."

Eva knelt again. "Forgive me, Ancient Ones, but we do not know your rituals anymore. I would gladly accept your offer, but we do not know how."

The shining one and the sparkling one placed a hand on her bowed head. "Then we will teach you, and you will honor us as your ancestors once did. We will requite your faith, as you return our ways to the world."

Eva and the children of the town had made their choice six months ago. They would not turn back now.

Is the return of the old ways a good or a bad thing? Who knows? Certainly not me!

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